An installation of that type is known from French Patent No. 2 766 123 which explains the advantages related to using pellets of thermoplastic material rather than a continuous strip for thermoforming objects such as receptacles, those advantages relating in particular to the fact that wastage is avoided or considerably reduced.
It is even possible to make provision for the edges of the pellets to define the edges of the thermoformed objects, without it being necessary, after thermoforming, to perform any additional operation for rectifying said edges.
However, that generally requires the edges of the pellets to be deformed either after the thermoforming operations or during said operations. In order to achieve such deformation satisfactorily, it is desirable for the entire surface of each of the pellets to be heated to the thermoforming temperature in the heating station.
Unfortunately, in FR 2 766 123, the pellets are carried through the heating station by supports having rims on which the edges of the pellets rest. As a result, the zones of the pellets that are supported by the rims cannot be heated correctly, at least as regards the heating performed by the bottom heater means.
An object of the invention is to improve that state of the art further by making it possible to heat the pellets better.